HealthAgents is creating an agent-based distributed decision support system (DSS) for the diagnosis and prognosis of brain tumours. The HealthAgents system implements novel pattern recognition discrimination methods in order to analyse in vivo MRS and ex vivo/in vitro HR-MAS and DNA data. HealthAgents is not only applying advanced agent technology to the biomedical field, but also nurturing the HealthAgents network, a globally distributed information repository for brain tumour diagnosis and prognosis.

Brain tumours remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality and afflict an increasing percentage of aging adults with a crude incidence rate of 8 per 100,000 inhabitants in Europe. Diagnosis using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is non-invasive, but only achieves 60-90 % accuracy, depending on the tumour type and grade. The current gold standard classification of a brain tumour by histopathological analysis of biopsy is an invasive surgical procedure and incurs a risk of 2.4-3.5% morbidity and 0.2-0.8% mortality, in addition to healthcare costs and stress to patients.There is a need to improve brain tumour classification, and to provide non-invasive methods for brain tumour diagnosis and prognosis, to aid patient management and treatment.

The HealthAgents project will deliver an opensource web-based DSS which provides hospitals and organisations with a reliable tool to aid in the diagnosis of brain tumours and their prognosis and avoid invasive surgical procedures.

The main objectives of the project are:

• Improve the classification of brain tumours through multi-agent decision support over a distributed network of local databases.
• Develop new pattern recognition methods for a distributed classification and analysis of high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) and DNA data.
• Define a method to assess the quality and usability of a new candidate local database containing a set of new cases, based on a quality score.
• Compile, evaluate and use parameters to audit clas¬sifiers and improve them periodically.
• Create the HealthAgents network, a globally distributed brain tumour information and knowledge repository comprising some of the leading European centres of excellence in neuro-oncology.

For further information, please visit:
http://www.healthagents.net

Project co-ordinator:
MicroArt (ES)

Partners:

• MicroArt, SL (ES)
• Universitat de València (ES)
• Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
• Instituto de Aplicaciones de las TIC avanzadas (ES)
• Pharma Quality Europe (IT)
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)
• University of Birmingham (UK)
• University of Edinburgh (UK)
• University of Southampton (UK)

Timetable: from 01/06 – to 12/08

Total cost: € 4.106.879

EC funding: € 3.791.270

Instrument: STREP

Project Identifier: IST-2004-27214

Source: FP6 eHealth Portfolio of Projects